Developer Chat

SimLeague Baseball

Developer: tzentmeyer

Date: Monday, March 21, 2005

Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST

The LIVE portion of this chat will begin on

Monday, March 21, 2005 at 7:00 PM EST.

Here's your chances to ask questions and/or provide comments/suggestions about the latest upgrade to SimLeague Baseball. If you have specific questions about a game, you should use the 'email boxscore link' to send those in.

Welcome everyone -- first off, thank you to everyone for being patient following the latest upgrade. It was our largest update to date and involved a great deal of change. After a week, we have resolved the majority of the problems and should have the remaining ones corrected by the end of week.

Does ERA have an effect on a pitcher's ability when pitching with men in scoring position? If so, what is the median ERA -(where a pitcher will have the same attributes whether men are in scoring position or not)? (sandalshoef - All-Star - 7:00 PM)

Due to limited stats available (doubles and triples allowed), we use a pitcher's ERA to determine what percentage of hits allowed will become extra base hits. It's used the same way whether men are on base or if the bases are empty.

Normalized stats would be a great search tool. Why not include them in the whatifsports search database (draft center), and make them sortable just like the real numbers ????? (tarzan - Hall of Famer - 7:01 PM)

Normalized stats are now a part of the player search. At the bottom of the player search page are your preferences. If you change the interface level to normal or advanced, you will have access to AVG+, OBP+, SLG+ and OPS+ for hitters and OAV+, ERA+ and ERC+ for pitchers.

Tzent, please return to 30 game spring training seasons, run with the same engine as full season leagues. (tarzan - Hall of Famer - 7:03 PM)

Spring Training leagues use the same engine as the regular season engine. In addition, we removed the restrcitions on the Advanced Batting, Pitching and Reliever settings in the upgrade. So now you can adjust pitch counts, etc. for your Spring League teams.
We plan on keeping the 10-game schedule, though.

In the draft center, normalized stats are being presented as compared to league averages. In the past, we have been told that the various log5 formulas the site uses for normalization during gameplay use MLB averages? Is this still the case? If it is, why present draft center stats vs league averages? And if it is not the case, and the log5 calcualtions use league averages now, how are player-seasons that occurred in 2 separate leagues handled? (JohnGPF - Hall of Famer - 7:08 PM)

The normalized stats presented in the player search tool are simple comparison values. For those players who appeared on multiple teams in the same season, the team that is tied to the player record dictates what league he is compared against. This goes for both the partial season records and the full-season records. These values are based on the specific league (NL or AL or AAA or PL or FL) and are broken down into two groups, pitchers and non-pitchers.
The log5 calculations we use in the engine are versus the entire league average. We plan on adjusting these to use the same format as in the player search (NL versus league average, for instance), but we are holding off doing so until we adjust the salaries to incorporate the normalized stats.

Can someone with 0.0 HR's per 100 ABs actually hit a Home Run besides an inside the parker?
I guess I'm asking if a pitcher's HR allowed stats stand alone as a variable, or do they only alter the hitter's HR/AB ratio? (sandalshoef - All-Star - 7:11 PM)

Anyone is capable of allowing a HR or hitting a HR. Any player that didn't achieve a particular stat in a season is assigned a very low percentage chance of doing so in the sim. So, if you have Spike Owen face a bunch of pitchers that allow a ton of homers, he should outperform his real-life homerun totals.

Why aren't the SIM statistics upon which OAV is supposed to be based part of the statistical set made viewable by owners? It's like giving us WHIP, but not walks, hits or IP. (JohnGPF - Hall of Famer - 7:13 PM)

The simple answer to this question is real estate. Many of the pages that display stats are already pushing the limit. Following the update, we have been getting a ton of great suggestions. For instance, we might break the team stat pages into two sections (normal and additional) where the less important stats would be in the additional section (SF allowed, SH allowed, Batters Faced).

Will you be bringing back the flashing sitemail icon at any point? Its was much more convenient. (webb8 - Hall of Famer - 7:15 PM)

We have been getting lambasted for removing this feature. Something tells me it will be making a comeback very soon.

I'm thinking about using the new feature in which you can carry less than ten pitchers.
I'm planning on carrying eight pitchers, and using a three-man starting rotation.
So, here's my question: should I carry one extremely long inning guy (i.e. Silver King), put him at long A, have pitch just about every night, and get rid of the Long B guys...OR should I have two Long A guys and one Long B guys???
Thanks.
-bighank35 (bighank35 - Hall of Famer - 7:17 PM)

There's no real answer to that question. Either strategy can work and either can fail, but the most important thing is that you have enough IP to go around. It's important to have a cheap mopup pitcher eat innigs during blowouts because it'll save the rest of your staff.

I miss the Play by Play Only....button, hard to click on the scores page to get play by play without peekin at the scores...Could this be put back in place?? (kingdms - Hall of Famer - 7:18 PM)

This should already be a part of the team center. If you check the "Hide Results" checkbox under your active teams, it shouldn't display the score or your standings. It has a play-by-play link so you can view the game without seeing the results ahead of time.

Does anything besides PA impact a position player's fatigue? For example, if I consistently use a low AB guy as defensive replacement and/or pinch runner, will he eventually fatigue, or will that only happen if he accumulates PA? (zbrent716 - Hall of Famer - 7:19 PM)

No, plate appearances are the single source of fatigue for position players.

Can you tell us what the problem is/has been with the OAV? (1) It is not appearing correctly in team standings. (2) Some claim changes in computation have dramatically affected simulated games. (jsturgis5866 - Hall of Famer - 7:23 PM)

The OAV that is displayed in various sections of Sim Leagues is calculated using several stats (Hits allowed, hit by pitch allowed, sac flies allowed, sac hits allowed and batters faced). The reason the values are off for existing leagues (started prior to the update) is because we tracked some of the stats (hits and HBP) but not others. So when the calculation is being made, the results are thrown off. These display values don't affect anything and are correct for any new leagues.
The underlying OAV changes (on average a change of about ~.006) should result in slightly more offense. After listening to users suggest that slugging percentage of players weren't living up to actual season performances, we uncovered the OAV difference. Now, it's as correct as can be and hitting should receive a small boost.

Are 1891 pitchers going to get hammered during the season? According to the search engine, some of them have .250+ OAV but 100+ in OAV+. I was misled to draft several 1891 pitchers believing that their pitching performance will be highly above league average. (Satanic - Hall of Famer - 7:25 PM)

The displayed normalized values for a handful of 1891 players (American Associate players) were off for the first 4 days of the update. They shouldn't get hammered, however, because the underlying values were correct.

Will the Magic Number reappear on the general standings at some point? Will view-access to owners' active teams also be restored at some point? (jsturgis5866 - Hall of Famer - 7:26 PM)

The magic number now resides in the additional standings. Based on feedback, we are considering making the standings the entire width of the page to include all stats with the schedule beneath it split vertically with the league chat.
The problem we were having with some teams not having access to draft center/active teams should have been corrected over the weekend (thankfully!).

Pitcher recommendations are a point-in-time calculation wheras fatigue is a cumulative value.
Pitcher recommendations are calculated using the pitcher's actual number of pitches thrown, games pitched and innings pitched. We then take into consideration the team's pitching staff/rotation size, the pitcher's current usage pattern (games pitched versus team games played) and estimate how many pitches he'll have left if used at the current pattern in the current staff configuration.

While I am pleased with the revamped Player Search, I was a little disappointed that a few stats weren't included: RC+, RC27+ XR (extrapolated runs, a Jim Furtado creation), XR27, XR+, and XR27+. Any chance we might see any of these in an update? (1899_spiders - All-Star - 7:30 PM)

If you send customer support a list of desired stats, we'll consider adding them when we have time.

What affects a player's success rate in stealing bases, his sb% , his total stolen bases or his speed rating (or all three)? (sandalshoef - All-Star - 7:33 PM)

The runner's stolen base success ratio plays a large part. In addition, the base he is trying to steal combined with the pitcher's throwing arm also plays a role. If you're playing LIVE, holding runners on is also important.
We hope to acquire more catcher baserunning data in the future so the catcher can become a bigger role.

will you implement some sort of 'fix' for the oav issue for leagues that started prior to the upgrade? I know it is only 'display data' but it is use ful and it is cool! having it be weird looking really impacts my enjoyment of thegam ... (combalt - Hall of Famer - 7:35 PM)

yes, we plan on bringing back the old formula for leagues that began prior to the update (display values).

Any answer as to the impact of the -2 singles at skydome? Will the lost singles become outs, or will they contribute to the additional doubles (+2) and HR (+1)? (zbrent716 - Hall of Famer - 7:37 PM)

It should result in fewer hits in the Skydome; they don't necessarily have to be redistributed elsewhere if the other factors are neutral.

Did I miss something? I did not find HR/9 in player search area for pitchers. (vinous - Hall of Famer - 7:38 PM)

HR/9 is still there, but you have to adjust your interface level in the preferences to at least normal.

In a LIVE game, does using any of the following options increase the likelihood of a hit: OF in; INF in; Hold. If so, does OF in result in more extra base hits or will INF in and OF in be treated the same? (zbrent716 - Hall of Famer - 7:39 PM)

They both play a role. When the OF is in, there's a higher chance for doubles/triples and less chance of a runner scoring from 2B on a single. When the IF is in, there's a higher chance for a hard hit ball getting through but also a higher chance for nailing a runner at the plate, for instance. When you hold runners on, there's a better chance of a ball getting through the hole, but less chance of the runner taking the extra base or stealing.

Thanks for planning on fixing OAV!
Any chance we could get an advanced setting for using IBBs? 'Spaky' IBBs guys way way more than I'd like him too (combalt - Hall of Famer - 7:41 PM)

A new setting for IBB is also in the works.

Once and for all, are AAA players based on actual players? (kylejs101 - Hall of Famer - 7:46 PM)

AAA players are loosely based on actual players. We use the actual player as a starting poing and make adjustments from there.

Can you please explain the mysterious Hit and Run setting and what it does?
(combalt - Hall of Famer - 7:50 PM)

The Hit and run setting is used in determining whether a baserunner will try and take the extra base (runner on 1B scoring on a double, for instance).

Just wanted to clear this up once and for all. Does a left handed pitcher do better against left handed hitters? Or does it not matter? (ozomatli - Hall of Famer - 7:51 PM)

Pitcher arm versus batter arm plays a role in the batter-pitcher matchup. We use the historical averages for each combination. So, LHP will fare better against LHB.

How do you expand the search results beyond the 500 max? When I change the value in the URL, it says it has returned more than 500 search results (the number depends, of course, on what search criteria I have set), but when I click "next 50", it shows nothing. Sometimes it simply says an error has occured, and won't give me any results. How do I fix this? (1899_spiders - All-Star - 7:51 PM)

We actually have a limit of 500 players for database performance reasons.

Please explain how a pitcher can have a 1.097 OAV. (Tucker T's - Hall of Famer - 7:52 PM)

He can't. See an earlier response in this dev chat for the reason some leagues are seeing funky values.

I find this chat very informative, any chance this could be done on a monthly basis? (zubalas - Hall of Famer - 7:53 PM)

Yes, we plan on doing 1 once a month for baseball.

Since the change I go to the draft center I put a player name in then I click on search player database and nothing happens .Any clues what could be the problem? (topkat - Hall of Famer - 7:54 PM)

We hope this was resolved today because it was related to a specific browser. We were having unusual problems with Safari browsers, Netscape browsers and a couple other lesser used browsers.

Oh, the hit-and-run setting isn't for hit-and-run plays, but for aggressiveness on the basepaths then? So Ks don't matter, just team speed and -- to paraphrase Dirty Harry -- "whether you feel lucky"? (jsturgis5866 - Hall of Famer - 7:57 PM)

It has more to do with baserunners getting a good jump than on the batter sacrificing power for contact. Of course, the likelihood of a runner getting thrown out stealing also increases.

Could you clarify your sim engine concerning the following? :
A pitcher has an opp BA of .300.
In 500 AB's VS a batter with a .400 BA you would expect the batter to bat above .400 because the pitcher's opp BA of .300 is higher than the norm-right? I think some people are so simple minded to expect a .350 avg because (.400 + .300)/2=.350.
(sandalshoef - All-Star - 7:57 PM)

If the pitcher is coming from a season where the league batting average was < .300 and the hitter is coming from a season where the league average was < .400, then he should hit better than .400 in the long-term.

Re owners active teams earlier: My question wasn't clear; it referred to clicking on a user's information to find not only his rating, playoffs, WS wins, but also his (or her) active teams. It was a nice feature. Will it return? (jsturgis5866 - Hall of Famer - 7:58 PM)

Yes, this should return. I believe it was left off by mistake rather than design.

How will new park effects influence existing teams/leagues? In other words will a team built on old effects currently in mid-season be "penalized" for a negative change in its home park effects? (SmokeyJoe - Hall of Famer - 7:59 PM)

No, any team assembled prior to the update will continue to use the old ballpark effects.

Why did you decide to go with your new format where you have to go back & forth to check each different team? Wasn't the old format where all your teams were on the same page easier? (davkarball - Hall of Famer - 8:03 PM)

We thought we would be making the process of managing teams easier using this format because the team center page would contain everything you need to know about your teams. We still need to add the alert icons for new trade info, pending transaction deadline, and fatigued players. This format was used in football and received lots of praise.
We are considering adding a drop-down list of teams in the SimLeague header section that would be available on all pages. When you select a team from the list, it would take you to that team's League Office.

That's all the time I have tonight everyone. Thanks for your time and sorry I couldn't get to all the questions.